new decade begins

A pretty positive start to the new year overall...and its spring already! how did that happen??

I really am trying to get in the habit of writing a bit more frequently so my updates don't turn into long summaries of our whirlwind life in retrospect...but I had a wee bit of writers block in all areas of life when this year began. Now that the mental wall has come down I'm back in the writing zone and catching up on things.

The end of my stable hours at the Info Centre, and adjusting to a whole new weekly changing work schedule had me feeling quite anxious for a while. Not as nice working mostly nights and weekends as I am now back to taking whatever hours I can get and that is usually what I'm offered. Feast or famine auxiliary life has its stresses, but the flexibility has worked for us so far. And up to this point I've been getting enough hours at Britannia (between the Info Centre & the pool) and the MOV for us to stay afloat just fine. This has helped me relax a bit more lately. :)

Some tales from the beginning of this new decade were worthy of their own posts, like the Olympic ramblings, farewell to ravishing beasts, spring potlucks and a moving adventure, and the rest I will recap as best I can here.

The adorable pic of Sasha above was the night she had her first hair cut a la mommy. Trimmed her bangs and the longest of the curls at the back. She's not much for barrettes or ponytails,  so we needed to cut the hair in front so she could see ;)


Mark and I had a couple of date nites to start the year off. The first was dinner and a hockey game as we enjoyed his tix I got him for Christmas. Super fun night, and a bonus that the Canucks actually won that night too! yay

Our other night out was to see my buddy Matt in his theatre show "Hobson's Choice" (vid clip) How's that for a balance? Sports and theatre in one month. :D




After our food and drink the night of the game, we began a family cleanse and started the Wild Rose meal plan for 12 days. Basically, we cut out flour, sugar and dairy which turned out to be a lot less challenging than we expected. Cheese, bread and wine were a touch difficult to live without, but we don't eat very many processed foods, so we approached it as an opportunity to simply try a bunch of new recipes, and I was determined to conquer my fear of beets. I love to eat them but always worried about the mess of them so never prepared them myself. You can ask Mark sometime just how far I've come with my culinary skills and trying new things in the kitchen since we met. He still doesn't like to watch me use a knife (though he's the one who keeps cutting himself...not me, hehe) but my prep skills have come along way too and I have mastered many yummy meals! And the beets weren't so scary after all, lol.

The best part of our time of cleanse was the way Sasha eagerly jumped into it and loved it. We had to pack a special lunch and snacks for her throughout the cleanse, and she would carry her lunch bag every day excited to show everybody what she got to have. I was worried it might be tricky for her to eat different things than everyone else, but it was only hard one day when they had a snack that Sasha is a particularly big fan of. Other than that the whole menu change was fairly easy for us all.

Well, aside from the caffeine headaches Mark and I suffered the first couple of days. We didn't have to cut out coffee, but without milk and sugar I don't enjoy it as much, so I switched to herbal teas...and we were pretty darn cranky for a day or two there.

Anyways, we did actually feel better at the end of the cleanse and decided we would like to do it again in the fall. The 6 pills a day that you have to take as herbal supplements during the cleanse are a bit hard to swallow (aha), but we did achieve the goal of learning a bunch of great new recipes to add to our menu mix.

Another goal to achieve has been getting us all on track with the dentist. I realized last fall that it was time to consider taking Sasha for her first exam of her teeth. Before getting her started it was time for Mark and I to get to have a little dental catch-up ourselves. Here's an embarassing little secret: I had not been to the dentist since I moved to Vancouver in 1997. I know, I know. And we didn't even have a really good excuse since we have his dental plan and everything. 2 procrastinators = neglected dental appointments. Time to change that!!

I'm happy to say that for me, it took one 'new patient' appointment, 2 cleanings - one for each side of my mouth, and 2 fillings...and my teeth are all caught up. Seems I take pretty good care of them which was nice to hear! Mark is a different story, but he too will be caught up soon...and let's see which role model the kids choose to follow when it comes to brushing, hehe.

Sasha will have her first dentist appointment after her bday...which is at the end of this month! I can't say my 3 year old anymore because Sasha is gonna be 4 years old very soon! I will have a post dedicated to all of the thoughts I have to share about that later. For now I'm back to the day to day focus, and doesn't time move slowly living in the now?  Full of great moments of help and play around the house. I love that Sasha is really into board games which has opened a whole new level of family play time :)






Before the olympics we noticed something new on our walks to and from daycare (and on my walks to Britannia) Back then it was usually getting dark when we picked her up at the end of the day, so she first noticed it because it was a bright new light in the distance. From the top of the hill at China Creek park you can see this giant piece of public art which is called the Monument for East Vancouver by artist Ken Lum and is based on a symbol that has a long history and has become a common tattoo even. The piece reminds me too much of a neon sign for some kind of chapel, but it certainly makes for interesting conversation with people from East Van, and Sasha loves it. She can read all the letters, and she likes to declare now that she is "so happy I live in our neighbourhood of East Van" which was something she didn't know before this was put in place. What do you think?


Another interesting conversation piece I've enjoyed is the Aquaponics experiment that has been going on in the Britannia Info Centre. Our food security coordinator Ian Marcus, along with some Brit Secondary students who are doing science projects on different ways to grow food, are now enjoying the greens of their labours (well, mostly Ian's labour! what a stress adventure learning how to get this thing to work!) I love seeing food growing in the office, and its fascinating that the fish poop can feed the plants! They continue to grown even more since my last 'after' pic here.

I feel it is an exciting time to be a part of Britannia as there is a new focus on the future of the centre. Not to simply get on the next capital plan for some small (and much needed larger) problems can be fixed, but to create a master plan that is bold and sustainable in its vision. Britannia has an amazing history and is a unique model for a hub of community services. Right now is a great time to share your own ideas at somethingishappening@britanniacentre.org or fill in the survey at britanniacentre.org (link is on the front page) if you'd like to have your say. I found the open house that was held recently featuring a few different ways of gathering community input to the next level of planning, was a really fascinating process. And the skill of the people who can just draw everything you imagine and tell them about is crazy impressive!

The ultimate balance for us in crazy times is a healthy dose of friendship time. Mark has the boys over fairly often, and I'm lucky to have play time out of the home! Like a matinee movie date with Ali (love her facial reaction to "what do you think of all that pretty fencing around the olympic village below?") where we saw Avatar and ate her dreamy crepes in the theatre, hehe; also had a fun nite out with Victoria where I finally got to try Cafe Katmandu. Both of these dates included nice long walks which goes so well with great conversation and good food digestion :)


There are many staff I work with at the pool that have become solid friends over the years, and I was thrilled that Erinn held a fabulous feast (a full on carribean fest of delicious food!!) in her home and a chance for Mark and Sasha to finally meet a few more members of the fabu pool crew! Only managed a few worthy pics tho:



A live music night with friends at Cafe Deux Soleils with a few pitchers of sangria - you know I was in heaven! ;)


A great treat was time with our island friends before they moved back to the city and welcomed baby Maia to the world!

Our co-op was approved for all of the grant and loan money we need to start the renovations to all of the exterior. More info to come as the process begins to move forward, but the first investment was a new appliance contract so we all have new fridges and stoves! First sign of all the changes to come - wheeee!

A family adventure one day had us walking around town and ending up at Kalamata greek restaurant before going home. On the way we had to stop at the Canada Line station at Broadway, where for some reason they have a few cute little cow statues. Not sure why...

I'm sure that I have missed something, but I feel you are pretty well up to date on us wacky folks by this point. Time for you to send me a quick note with what is new with you!

We have a lot to look forward to in the year to come, so there will continue to be much to read about! I'm off to Montreal in May and also get to try the Tourism Challenge again this month (what stamps will we adventure for this year?), our 10th wedding anniversary is in June, and family camping adventure this summer - yeeeepa!

Here is a last little something to put a smile on your face: Sasha's last version of "Oh Canada"